...for he is like a refiner's fire... and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier... and purge (me) as gold and silver, that (I) may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. I must receive into the depths of my heart the searching scrutiny of God which removes the dross of selfishness, sin and judgement that I may praise His name forever.

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He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou find refuge: His truth is a shield and bucklerPsalms 91:4

Be it ours,when we cannot see the face of God, to trust under the shadow of His wings. C.H. Spugeon

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Thy Will Be Done!

Genesis 1:3, "... God said, "Let there be light", and there was light. Just to sound redundant, What choice did light have? It was spoken into existence. It was perfect, it is still perfect, it will always be perfect. It does not exist apart from being perfect. God was satisfied in its existence. It was a word proclaimed as an expression of the mind and creative power of God; light was an explicit interpretation of the spoken word of God. Light cannot deviate from its existence because the Divine Will declared it to be.There is contained in this phrase the dignity, authority and omnific power of God. This is further enhanced in Psalm 33 (4) For the word of the Lord is right, and all His work is done in truth ...(6) By the word of the Lord the haevens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. ... (9) For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast. ...Psalm 148:5, For He commanded and they were created.

"Thy will be done" Words spoken by Jesus saying "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."

It would be nice to face the daily conflicts of humanity/humility; faith/fear; hope/pain; existential/eschalogic with the seemingly calm disposition of my Savoiur. It would be nice to have the understanding, wisdom and peace with which Jesus spoke these words, being open to the consequences of placing faith, trust and life into the hands of God. It would be nice to have confidence, absolute and assured, that the will of God, in its supreme and majestic operation withholds no 'good gift', has at its heart the 'best' for me and will result in the 'good' things in life being given to me.

There is an inherent relationship between prayer, faith and God's will which lends itself to misunderstanding. Matthew 7:7-11, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" It is underscored in this reference that believers should not hesitate to ask for and expect God's generosity to be showed in His blessings and those even beyond our human expectations. The three verbs used include the ideas of need, want, loss, zealousness, sincerity, earnestness. There is an underscoring of confidence, humility, care, application and perseverance, presupposing a fortuitous answer to each and every suppilcation.However, God has the final word on the answers He gives to the prayers we pray.So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you." Mountain-moving prayer and faith, what power, what authority, what faith, yet how many times has the word 'if' appeared in these passages, and so, 'if' our prayers and as a consequence we errantly blame our faith as a result, have not been answered, we proclaim 'Thy will be done'. This is a placebic, impertinent, apologetic speaking from defeat. It really does not resolve the issue of 'unanswered' prayer and the question of weak faith, it only seeks to close off rebuttals to a dilemma created by misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the purpose of God. We ignorantly ask for 'snakes' and 'stones' and become disappointed when we receive 'fish' and 'bread'. Afterall, God has the final word on the answers He gives to the prayers we pray.

"Thy will be done' was never intended to be an excuse, rather it was an invitation, a declaration, an act of violence, a rendering, a purging, "... and when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered was shaken, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness." "Woe is me, for I am undone." "Thy will be done" the 'fiat' of prayer and faith is the pronouncement of God's holines as it relates to His wrath and judgement, as well as His love and mercy. "Prayer takes faith. It takes faith, knowing that hope is preceded by suffering, perseverance, and character (cf. Rom 5.3-5). It takes faith to continue on once we realize the great cost – the great grief and pain – that may be involved in allowing God to work creatively and redemptively within us rather than outside of us."

"Thy will be done" is the opening of our lives to a costly undertaking by God. Once the statement is made it is really not an issue of faith or belief, other than acceptance of the 'goodness' of God.